by Reilly Phelan, Ernesto Castañeda & Joseph Fournier* Overview of dataset from 2018, 2020, 2022 election cycles for competitive races / Creative Commons License Contrary to the common assumption, anti-immigrant rhetoric does not ensure electoral success. In an upcoming report from the Immigration Lab and the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies, we prove the moral and electoral failure of using anti-immigrant sentiment in campaign platforms. Our data demonstrates the falsity of the notion that being weak on immigration control is an electoral vulnerability. In an e ..read more

By Ernesto Castañeda, Edgar Aguilar, and Natalie Turkington March 12, 2024 A new report from CLALS and the Immigration Lab finds that recent immigrants are a key driver of economic growth in the United States. The report presents an original calculation that finds that only in 2022: Immigrants who sent money home contributed over $2.2 trillion dollars to the U.S. economy. This contribution by migrant labor constitutes about 8% of the U.S. GDP. Remittances represent just 4% of the total output generated by immigrants, even if they add up to $81.6 billion annually, disputing the narrative that ..read more

Climate Change Threatens Indigenous Communities in Panama and Mexico Gardi Sugdub, Panama photo by Lee Bosher Forest fire photo by Bertknot. By Valeria Chacon Climate change is adversely contributing to humanitarian emergencies such as heatwaves, wildfires, floods, tropical storms, and hurricanes. Unfortunately, these crises are only increasing in frequency and magnitude. For example, Indigenous communities in Panama and Mexico find themselves displaced from their ancestral lands as climate change intensifies. Gardi Sugdub is an island situated off the coast of Panama, home to over 1,453 Guna ..read more

The U.S. and Mexico’s Federal Strategic Plans against Migration and their Relation to Invisible Deaths by Sofia Guerra* March 7, 2024 A monument at the Tijuana-San Diego border for those who have died attempting to cross. Each coffin represents a year and the number of dead. (Photo credit: © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0) The U.S. and Mexico have strategies to control migration that dehumanize migrants and sometimes lead to their deaths becoming invisible. The U.S. border infrastructure forces migrants to be exposed to extreme natural environments c ..read more

by Marcela Ventura* February 23, 2024 A young girl holds an American flag during a stand for immigrants’ rights in Chicago, May 1, 2006. Photo credit: Joseph Voves. CC GPA Photo Archive/ Creative Commons License From its presence at Thanksgiving dinners and presidential debates, immigration is a recurrent topic of debate in the U.S. and around the world. Unfortunately, people often fail to see the full impact immigration can have. One aspect of immigration that is rarely discussed is the effect immigration has on immigrants and their families. Growing up in a diverse environment, I saw the lac ..read more

by Edgar Aguilar* February 21, 2024 “Dia nacional de la bandera de Guatemala.” Gobierno de Guatemala. Gobierno de Guatemala. CC. / Creative Commons License Edie Cux, director of Acción Ciudadana, local chapter of Transparency International, spoke with CLALS’ researcher Edgar Aguilar about Guatemala’s recent presidential elections. Read a synthesis of the interview below.   What were the defining issues in Guatemala’s recent elections?  The main problem in the social imaginary here in Guatemala was the issue of the fight against corruption. This was key after years of exposed cor ..read more

by Ricardo Torres* A photo of Havana, Cuba taken in December 2023 / Ernesto Castañeda / Creative Commons License In the concluding sessions of the National Assembly in December, the Cuban Prime Minister alluded to new economic policy initiatives aimed at “correcting distortions and boosting the economy.” Subsequently, he emphasized that these reforms should not be perceived as mere continuation of previous policies. His discourse encompassed several areas, including pricing and subsidies, the role of the private sector and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), international trade and tari ..read more

Food Insecurity among Latinx Populations in Washington D.C.  by Lia Sullivan* U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services Stacy Dean and U.S. Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine pack food boxes with volunteers from Howard University at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C. on Friday, October 27, 2023. The Capital Area Food Bank leads efforts to provide equitable access to food and opportunity to people struggling with hunger and food insecurity. Each year through donations and the help ..read more

By Erica Criollo January 17, 2024 Solidarity rally in Queens, New York by members of the Ecuadorian diaspora. Photo by Erica Criollo  On January 7th, 2024, José Adolfo Macías Villamar, alias“Fito,” the leader of one of Ecuador’s most prominent gangs, was found missing from his luxury prison cell the day he was meant to be transferred to a maximum-security prison to be held in isolation. While Macías began his 34-year sentence in 2011, he remained the leader of the criminal gang, Los Choneros, due to their longstanding influence over government officials and extensive ..read more

By Ernesto Castañeda January 11, 2024 Republicans in Congress are denying funding to Ukraine and Israel over migration and border security, but the premises and assumptions used to discuss the issue fail to take the following elements into account. It is hard to determine if numbers are really without precedent. There has been a change in that immigrants come and turn themselves in to try to come in with a legal immigration status, such as through asylum or the regularization programs available to Ukrainians, Afghans, Cubans, Haitians, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, and other groups. In previous d ..read more